But that can't last forever.

Burrell has already cooled off slightly, with six hits in his last 29 at-bats heading into last night. And it's unreasonable to expect Utley to hit .360 with 60 home runs this season, his current homer pace.

"We need some of the guys that we have the expectation of hitting, we need them to step up," manager Charlie Manuel said.

The pessimistic view is that the Phillies are in trouble if Burrell and Utley ever enter prolonged slumps. After all, the players have accounted for 30 percent of the team's runs and 35 percent of its RBI. One of the two has either driven in or scored 84 of the team's 165 runs.

But the optimistic view is that the rest of the lineup can't possibly remain as cold as it has been through the first 5 weeks of the season.

Consider: The only regular aside from Burrell and Utley who is currently hitting at or above his career average is outfielder Jayson Werth. He's batting .269 and he's a lifetime .260 hitter.

Carlos Ruiz, a career .256 hitter, entered last night hitting .238. Pedro Feliz (.227/.251), Eric Bruntlett (.240/.248), Shane Victorino (.247/.272) and Geoff Jenkins (.263/.277) were also hitting below their career averages. And, of course, there has been the prodigious struggle endured by first baseman Ryan Howard, who at .168 is hitting more than 100 points below his career average.

But with the impending return of MVP shortstop Jimmy Rollins, there doesn't seem to be too much concern in the clubhouse.

"We really haven't swung the bats well at all, but it's coming - believe me," hitting coach Milt Thompson said. "Chase and Pat have done an outstanding job of carrying this team. But you get Jimmy back and big Howie starts rolling and Shane gets back in the groove. We have a good situation here."

Heading into last night's game against the Diamondbacks, the Phillies were fourth in the National League with 165 runs scored, but were seventh with a .256 batting average. During a recent 2-week stretch in which they won 10 of 14 games, they hit just .240 as a team.

"I think top to bottom we are a lot better offense than we've shown," said catcher Chris Coste, a career .306 hitter currently batting .286. "But offensively, we are going to be far better in the coming weeks than we've shown, and as long as our bullpen maintains it, we're definitely going to be even better. Even though our record right now is better than it was at this point last year, we know that we are still quite a bit better than what we've played."

Talking Rollins

"Jimmy played today and felt fine," assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "We're confident that he's still progressing well and, at this stage, he is still day-to-day."

Charlie Manuel said before last night's game he still didn't have a concrete idea when the shortstop would return. But Rollins seems set on playing for the Phillies in time for this weekend's series in San Francisco, which is right across the bridge from his Oakland home.

"Their schedule is they want me to be here [today in Clearwater]," Rollins told the Associated Press, "but mine says I have a plane ticket."

Bruntlett cruising

A career utility player, Bruntlett acknowledged the pressure one can place on himself when given an opportunity to play. That pressure may have reared its ugly head in Bruntlett's debut at shortstop in New York, when he committed two costly fielding errors against the Mets. But the veteran has bounced back admirably.

"I think that's definitely something that guys in my role are always fighting," Bruntlett said. "You try to do too much. You are going to get one at-bat here or there, maybe get one start a week, 10 days, 2 weeks, you never really know. When you do get a chance you feel like everything's riding on this. If I don't get a hit here, I might not see the field for another 2 weeks."

Phillers